UNC asks for separation of Limbaugh radio show and Tar Heel sports broadcasts

The University of North Carolina Athletics Department has asked for a change in the way Rush Limbaugh’s radio show is promoted on stations that air the Tar Heel Sports Network.

The department has asked radio stations not to promote Carolina sports during Limbaugh’s show and vice versa, Chancellor Holden Thorp said to reesenews affiliate Carolina Connection Wednesday.

UNC officials say the decision went into effect on March 6.

The request follows Limbaugh’s comment earlier this month in which he called Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke “a slut” and “a prostitute” after she testified to Congress in favor of a healthcare policy that would require insurers to cover birth control.

Limbaugh’s radio show and the Tar Heel Sports Network both air on local radio stations including WRDU-FM, or so-called “Rush Radio.”

“A lot of our faculty and some other folks outside of the University were upset to find out that we were connected with ‘Rush Radio,'” Thorp said.

One online petition with 1,107 signatures calls for Tar Heels Sports Network affiliates to drop Limbaugh’s show. While Thorp said that Tar Heel sports has a contract with the radio stations that also air Rush’s show and will continue broadcasting on those airwaves, the University is asking for some programming changes.

“We do understand why people are upset,” Thorp said. “Those were offensive and inappropriate comments.”